Draft rigging



March 25 1924. IASSS@ B. W. KABEL DRAFT RIGGING Filed Sept. 2, 1922 I ll I l I I /NVENTOR Application filed @enten/iter 2, 19293. rial do.www?.

To all/whoml it'may consom.' i Be it known that l, Brains W. citizen ofthe United States, residing t Baltimore, State of Maryland, haveinvfmtedl certain new and useful Improvements in Draft Rigging; and l dohereby declare the vfollowiuig to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will cnable others skilled in theart to which it appertains tomake and use the same.

My invention relates to draft rigging for railway cars and, generallystated, lnvolves the production of a simple, Strona, easily manufacturedand useful yoke memllier provided with means for receivin and retain-ving the cushioning element of t e draft r in encased relation to the.associa draft rigging parte.

e principal feature of m invention, "Il particularly stated, resides int e provision of friction draft rigging including a yoke mber formedwith a housing, arra 1% to receivev the cushioning element, of the draftrigging through thefront of the yoke.

nother feature of my invention is to provide a combined integral' yokemember and draft gear housing, said oke member havin a hooded end, andsai housing being a opted to receive thecushicning element of 'the draftgear longitudinally of the yoke through the hooded end thereof.

A. further feature'iof the invention is to provide in combination withcenter sills and fronti-and .rear stop members, a hooded yokepreferably-'-lof` the vertical type and having an intl draft gear housinat the rear end thereof, the forward end o said housing being formed toaccommodate and cooperate with friction members suitably aged adjacentan interposed follower.

There are other features of the invention as will more fully appear fromthe detailed demri tion of the embodiment which has been coscn for thepurposes of illustration when taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings in which- Figure l is a view in horizontal section through aportion of a railwa car draft rigging showing the yoke `mem r andintegral sprin housing iated with the friction "i mechanism.

Figure 2 is a central vertical sectional view on the line 2-2 of Figurel, the housing of the yolre member being shown in side elevation ,karatet D, ASSIGNOE T@ THE T. E. SMESGTON a ccnrcnarron or new MHG.

Figure 3 is a transverse vertical sectional view on the line 3 3 ofFigure 2.

Figure 4 is a detail transverse sectional view through the yoke memberon the line 4-4 of Fi re 2, the friction wed being shown in e ovation.

Figure 5 is a transverse sectional view on the line 5 5 of Figure 2.

Referring to the drawings in vwhich similar reference charactersdesignate' corresponding parts in the several views, the center sillsare indicated by the numeral l, each of said sills being provided at itsforward lend with a slot 2. Draft stop members 3 are connected by meansof rivets to the inner faces of the center sills, said stop membersbeing provided with slots 4, designed to register with the slots 2 inthecenter sills and having stop faces or lug portions 5 extending'inwardlyof the sills, said stop lugs being suitably reinforced by longitudinallyarranged ribs 6. A striking cast u is shown at said casting'being connecA to the center sills and stop members 3 by means ofrivets 8.

The coupler 9, and more especially the shank thereof, is arran ed forsliding engagement with the yo e member a coupler key 11 extendingthrough the slots in the center sills and slot members and constitutingthe connection between the coupler and yoke. The backstop member 12 isinte between and unites the center sills, rivets 13 serving to connectthe side walls of the besliste to the inner faces of said sills. A bumngace is provided on said backstop, said face being suitably reinforced bymeans of horizontal and -vertical lon tudinally extending ribs, asshown. T e backstop casting is ada ted to be engaged by the rear'portion o l the movable oke member on bung movement, as will be unded.

The oke member l0 is preferably of the verticalytype, and is formed witha hooded head or end le, the opposite side walls of. which are slotted,as at l5, to receive the cou ler key 1l. The outer ends of the sidewallie are of atei' cross sectional area, thereby providing an incr sibearin surface for the key, the said side walls sing also outwardly:dared with their outer faces J in relatively close spaced relation tothe inner of the cen sills. An housing or me i6 Mil formed on the rearortion of the yoke member, said housin eing closed at its rear end by awall l and open at its forward end to lreceive the cushionin elementvofthe draft rigging. Formed wit in the housing is the spring pocket orrecess into which is inserted through the front end of the yoke, thecushioning element of the draft rigging. The 4forward end of the housingis provided with horizontally dared wall. portions 18, each of which isformed with an inwardly inclined` friction wedge face 19, the outer endsof the daring portions 18 bein relatively closely spaced from the inneraces of the center sills.

Intermediate the wedging friction faces 19 I provide a plurality offriction blocks 20 and a wedge 2l. are adapted respectively to engagethe friction faces 19 of lthe housing and the wedge 21 is-interposedbetween the wedging fricf tion faces 22 of the blocks. 'lhe frictionblocks are effectively retained in position by thri upper and lower wallportions of the y Seated against the inner end of the wedge member 21 isa cushioning spring 23 of the draft ri ging, and if desired there may beprovide an additional lighter spring 24 interposed between the rear wall17 of the housing and a recess 25 provided in the wedge member 21. Thesprin are, completely encased within the houslngforming the rear end ofthe yoke. A screw-threaded opening 26 is provided in the wedge 2l, saidopenin being adapted to receive the threaded en of a member insertedthrough an aligned opening in the wall 17 of the housing, to facilitatethe shipping and handling of the parte prior to their assembly for use,as wi l he understood.

The follower is interposed between the friction blocks 20 and the draftstop lugs, said follower being adapted to transmit the bug strains fromthe coupler to the cushioning element and backstop, and also serving totransmit the pulling strains to the draft lug members upon the forwardmovement of the yoke member, as will be understood. Buding loads inexcess of the cushioning element are transmitted through the followercontact-in with the forward edges of the daring portions 18 and thencethrough the housing 16 to the backstop, said housing 'lhe frictionblocks 20 v Lasarte forming a maximum column area through which thestrains are imparted to the rear stop member `and center sills. Thespring housingl is preferably rectangular in cross section to providevthis increased or -marr mum area. l

A yoke supporting member 28 connected to the lower flan es of the centersills provides a guide and support for the rear end of the yoke orhousing, as shown. lipstanding portions 29 are formed on said supportingmember between which the housing is guided, as clearly shown in Figure'5., The top guide and retaining member 30 is arranged above the housing,said member bridging and being connected to the center sills. rl`heusual cover plate is indicated at 31.

A draft rigging constructed in accordance with my present inventionprovides a simple, compact and easily assembled structure. wherein thecushioning spring can be `readily inserted from the front end of thehousing 4and effectively` retained therein by the interposed frictionblocks and follower,

which latter are supported by the yoke member. @ther advantages indisassemblmg are also -obvious from the use of the unitary memberserving as the draft yoke y and spring barrel. Changesl commensuratewith the scope of my invention may he made and the terms herein are tobe taken.. in their descriptive and not in their limiting sense.

' l claim:

ln a draft rigging, the combination with a coupler, of a rectangularcasing or yoke member cooperating therewith, said casing having portionsof its side walls removed intermediate the ends thereof, other andcorres onding portions of each of said side wa ls beingarranged at anangle to the longitudinal axis of said casing, friction elements and aspring within said casing, some of said elements coacting with theangular portion of said side walls, and a-follower extendingtransversely through said casing, and means extending through the sidewalls of said casing adjacent the endsthereof for operatively connectingsaid coupler and casing. v

ln testimony whereof l affix my signature.

nanas vv. nanna.

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